


Find Me

by secret_letters



Series: Redefine Me [1]
Category: Marvel (Comics), Marvel (Movies), The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Angst, Body Sharing, Conspiracies, Drama, F/M, Friendship, Futurism, I'm taking plot lines from the Marvel comics and changing them to my own purposes, Identity, Loki is actually capable of learning from past mistakes, M/M, Magic, Mind Control, Mind connection, Romance, Slow Build, Tony's life sucks, awkward physical situations, major character transformation, mental dialogues, my daring attempts at action, new alliances, new villains, not listing all the characters yet because SPOILERS, occasional humor, occasional sarcasm, oh man I can already see it, old villains, or just Marvel you know, rating will go up in later parts, sensory stimulation, spirituality, tags can relate to further parts of this series, this is gonna turn into a monster, which doesn't mean he will ever be less of a trickster
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-10-04
Updated: 2012-11-09
Packaged: 2017-11-15 15:55:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/528974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/secret_letters/pseuds/secret_letters
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During a confrontation with the Avengers Loki performs a rather unique spell on Iron Man, leaving Tony Stark trapped in a place he’d never imagined to end up in: inside the God of Mischief’s body. With no one but Loki’s still very present consciousness for company, Tony is forced to collaborate - while trying to find out what Loki's endgame is and how the hell he's supposed to get his own body back. Also, it wouldn't hurt to turn in the miraculously escaped would-be world conqueror in the process...right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

###  **Prologue: Fragments**

  
_-one-_

_“In this, I fear you lack the resources to succeed on your own.”_  


_“Then I will find the assistance I require.”_  


_“Can you still find anybody willing help you, though? After what happened?”_  


_“Free will can be overridden.”_

  
_-two-_

_“We need you to reassemble.”_  


_“What’s happening?”_  


 _“He’s back.”_

  
_-three-_

_“Didn’t you learn anything last time? Get the hell away from Earth as long as you can!”_  


_“I’m afraid I need to stay a little longer.”_  


_“Yeah, not fucking happening.”_  


_“I was expecting you to say that.”_  


 _“---What?!”_

…

_“Watch out, Tony!”_  


_“Stay away from him!”_  


_“Jarvis, what the fuck is going on?!”_  


_“I am unable to maintain the connec-”_  


_“Shit…!”_  


 _“Oh my god.”_

  
_-four-_

_Let go. Come. Let go._  


_No. What is this? No…_  


_[Pulling, pulling.]_  


_Let go, now._  


_[Falling.]_  


_Yes, like that._  


 _[Black.]_

  
_-five-_

_“Tony, can you hear me?”_  


 _“TONY!”_

  
_-six-_

_“What do you mean, he escaped?”_  


_“He was just gone, in the blink of an eye!”_  


_“What about Stark?”_  


_…_  


_“We don’t know.”_

  
_-seven-_

_“The doctors haven’t detected any brain activity. But physically, he is unscathed.”_  


_“We have to find the bastard, Director. He might be our best shot at getting a clue about all this.”_  


 _“Good. You have the clearance to do whatever you need to.”_

  
_-eight-_

_Did it work? I can’t feel it._  


_I need to regain strength…I’m exhausted._  


_This will do._  


_Just a little rest._  


 _I hope this is worth it._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was just a brief preface...  
> Next chapter will be up shortly.


	2. Sharing Space

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tony Stark isn't particularly fond of green.

_Find me_  
 _For I am lost_  
 _In everything that I am_  


#~#~#  


The first thing Tony was immediately aware of when he regained consciousness was an overwhelming, biting coldness hitting him like a clash with freezing water after a jump from a cliff. It took him a few moments to overcome the shock and realize it wasn’t coming from his surroundings, though – it was reaching through him from the _inside_ , a giant claw boring its way through his guts and tearing at the walls of his body, his lungs and his skin to the surface. His mind screamed in protest past the dizziness still clouding his other senses.

_Goddamn…shit---what the hell? It’s like I swallowed a fucking iceberg!_

Tony blinked and squinted against a dull light, eventually working his eyes open to find himself in an utterly unfamiliar semi-bedroom. At least that was what he’d call it, since he was lying on a bed, but the rest of the room reminded him more of a work place, equipped with a desk, several worktops and a closet. He looked around several times, scanning the place for potential threat sources, but the only thing that struck him as strange was…his own eyesight. It was oddly different from usual, though Tony couldn’t for the life of him pinpoint what exactly was amiss. He felt lightheaded, plus rather distracted by the clattering of his teeth, so he decided to inspect the place for a bathroom and hopefully some hot water. He scrambled off the bed, closing his arms around himself and standing to his full height, and--

_…Huh._

Again, his perception seemed to have changed slightly. This time, the sight _angle_ appeared unusual…and his arms felt different to the touch. Tony held out one hand in front of his eyes, which, woah, that didn’t even _look_ like his hand, either. Okay, he decided, something was either seriously wrong with his senses, or he was going a bit nuts after whatever had happened before he had blacked out. Good point, by the way. What _had_ happened? There was a massive blank between him in his suit during the fight with Loki and him waking up freezing in a random room, wearing – he looked down at himself – a loose, white dress shirt and black slacks.

 _Well…stranger things have happened, everything considered_ , Tony mused. 

His next impulse was to check on the arc reactor, but as he pressed a hand to his chest he found nothing but smooth skin under the thin fabric of the shirt. It felt like the reactor had never even been there to begin with, and he was – he was _alive_. Not even feeling a little short of breath. 

What the fuck?

On the other hand, well, he was _still_ alive, but he had the uneasy feeling the worsening cold was threatening to end that state if he didn’t manage to find a remedy for it soon. Shivering and wondering what the hell was going on, he made his way over to the bathroom, stumbling more than walking, and ignoring the instinct to pull back the curtains and look out of the window for orientation in favor of not freezing to death. He opened the door on the far left wall, finding it led indeed into the bathroom, and almost didn’t notice the glimpse of something long and black as he entered and passed the mirror above the sink. _Almost._

Staggered, Tony backpedaled and turned right, staring at his reflection. Deeply green eyes stared back at him out of a pale face. And yes, those were rather distinctive cheekbones, an absolutely beardless, smooth chin and jawline, and long, silky black hair falling down to his shoulders. And suddenly, the cold didn’t seem like Tony’s biggest problem anymore.

Scratch that thought about stranger things. 

_…Fuck._

#~#~#

When Loki woke to the sight of his body standing in front of the mirror and his face contorted into an almost comical expression of utter disbelief, he knew he had succeeded.

#~#~#

To say he was a little bit spooked would have been an understatement, because while Tony had seen a fair amount of incredible shit in his life (it was _his_ life, after all), he had never woken up to being trapped in a body looking like one of the world’s (several worlds’, in fact) most wanted villains. It was like one of those bizarre nightmares that creep you out despite that there’s no death or destruction, just – plain weirdness. Only this felt pretty fucking _real_. 

And holy shit, he was Loki. 

He was _Loki_. 

He was…okay, not _actually_ Loki, just…looking exactly like the god of mischief, nothing to worry about at all, right? 

Right. Tony was so fucked. 

The engineer raised a hand to his face and started prodding the bone structures underneath the cold, immaculate skin, as if to check if they were really solid and not just a quip of his imagination or a well-fabricated illusion. But nope, of course, everything was pretty tangible. His unfamiliarly long fingers treaded their way through the black strands of hair in distress, leaving some of them to hang loosely into his face. The longer he stared into the widened green eyes, the longer absolutely nothing about his appearance changed. Holy fucking shit.

_‘Having trouble believing what you see, Stark?’_

“Woah! What-…?”

Tony started, spun around left and right, but he was still alone in the room, though that had definitely been an all too well-known voice in his head. He totally did _not_ panic. Not at all.

“Where are you little bastard?!” Oh great, now that voice wasn’t only in his head, but coming from his own mouth, too. Freaking fantastic. Wait a second…in his head? Tony’s eyes darted back to the mirror.

 _‘Getting it now?’_ Loki’s sneer resounded once again, aaaand yep, that had definitely been inside his skull.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Tony rubbed two fingers against his temple and swore. “You’re in my fucking head?!”

 _‘Technically, I am still in my own head. As you may have noticed after ten minutes of pointless staring into that mirror._ You _are the one who’s in_ my _head, or more correctly, my body.’_

Tony leant forward, resting his arms on the sink and unable to tear his gaze away from…well, _his gaze_ , while he listened to Loki without Loki’s lips moving. Ugh, weird.

“I’m in your- wait, what? But…” he waved one hand around in the air to support his argument, “I’m the one controlling this body! How do I know you haven’t sneaked your way into my brain and aren’t making me see things to screw with me?” He folded his arms in front of his chest. 

_‘Stop frowning like an idiot, it will ruin my face’_ , Loki snapped. _‘You’re controlling the movements only because I’m_ letting _you. Do you need a demonstration?’_

Before Tony could make a derisive remark at that, he felt something inside him push to the surface and himself being pulled back, cutting all connections to his nerve tracts, until suddenly he couldn’t move a muscle at all. _‘What have you done?!’_ he yelled and felt panic wash over his odd, incorporeal self.  
“Relax, Stark. Just proving my point.” 

Tony watched as Loki’s body took on a much more familiar posture in the mirror and the characteristic, slightly deranged grin formed on his lips. He could see it perfectly well, like he had with his own reflection, but not influence it at all. So he _was_ trapped in Loki’s _real_ body. Which was seven kinds of horrifying. 

“Do you believe me now?”

_‘Yes, you freaking nutjob. Now let me out of here, or I swear by every single thing I ever invented, I’ll kill you the second I get the opportunity!’_

Loki laughed, and it sent connotations through Tony’s consciousness that he had absolutely no desire to dwell upon. Things like sharpened razors and rose thorns, and strangling tendrils around his throat.

“Death threats tend to lose their significance if uttered by someone who would kill you anyway if they could”, the trickster said, unimpressed.

Had he possessed a body of his own, Tony would’ve gritted his teeth. As it was, however, he could only observe how Loki began to work the tangles out of his hair and pluck at the rumpled dress shirt, obviously in an attempt to make himself more presentable, whatever for. It was, now that Tony thought about it, kind of amusing, because he’d never before seen the god ruffled like that. Battle-drawn, messy, yes, but never so…bed-headed and undone. _Yeah, what a productive thought process, Tony._ Well, at least Loki didn’t currently look like he was actively plotting on how to kill him best, or so he thought. Unless the guy had already killed his body, of course. Huh. That definitely made it onto the 'Things I should inconspicuously ask the crazy super-villain' list. 

_‘What did you do to my body? And to the rest of the Avengers?’_ Okay, so maybe not that inconspicuously. He’d always been more of the direct type, sue him.

Loki hesitated a split second before sharing the information. “Your body is fine and I believe that eyepatch-directed organization of yours should be keeping it safe until you return to it. As for your friends - they are unharmed.”

 _‘Right’_ , Tony snorted. _‘And I should trust you about that…why?’_

“I don’t care whether you do, Stark”, the god said dismissively and looked straight at Tony through the mirror and his own eyes. “But let it be clear that you are not getting out of here until I get what I want.”

Tony weighed his options, which, hey, he didn’t have that many. Refuse to collaborate and stay stuck in the back of Loki’s head with, as Bruce had said so suitably, a bag of crazy cats to keep him company, or find out what the other’s endgame was and maybe get the chance to get his own body back. 

_‘And what is it that you want? Why trap me in here?’_

A split-second later, Tony felt that push from before again, only this time it was him who was pushed forward into physical awareness and met with an all-consuming coldness again. Loki’s body doubled over with the impact and Tony barely managed to keep it from hitting the floor by grabbing the sink with one and a cupboard nearby with the other hand. 

“Shit---what the hell? Give a guy a warning!”

Loki ignored the way his – or currently Tony’s – heart was hammering frantically against his ribcage.

_‘Loathe as I am to say this, I need your help.’_

Tony’s attempt at raising an incredulous eyebrow was somewhat undermined by his struggle to regain balance. “ _You_. Need _my_ help.”

_‘Just get dressed, Stark. We’re leaving.’_

“Great.” Play along, then. He had other things he needed to know anyway. Starting with a way to get rid of the crazy-ass coldness in his joints. Hadn’t Loki felt that as well while he had been in control? “Jesus, why are you so fucking cold?!”

The other made a noncommittal sound, but nevertheless deigned to explain: ‘It’s this body’s resting temperature. Whenever I’m not consciously aware of it, it cools down to its original state, like when I’m sleeping.’

“Wait, so you do actually sleep?”

_‘Not as you would define it, no. But I engage in periods of retreatment to recover strength from time to time.’_

“And when you’re…awake you warm up again?”

_‘Eventually, yes. It’s a peripheral process and I am not paying attention to it most of the time. Sometimes I forget about it entirely. Either way, it usually takes a while.’_

“So you’re what? Basically okay with freezing?” Tony willed his teeth to stop grinding against each other and thought about how this was already the longest conversation he’d had with the trickster since that fateful day he ended up being smashed against the glass façade of his own tower.

 _‘It’s not exactly pleasant, if you mean that. I don’t’_ , Loki paused long enough for Tony to wonder whether there was something else to that subject, _‘particularly like the cold. I just…’_

“You don’t care enough to bother?” Tony suggested and, when he wasn’t corrected, bit his lip (Loki’s lip, technically, and wow, wasn’t _that_ a thing he never thought he’d do) to keep from pushing further. There were still more pressing matters at hand, like avoiding death by frostbite.

“Well, could you work a little of your magic here so that I don’t turn into Capsicle? You are still able to do your magic thing while I’m steering the wheel, right?”

 _‘Trying to get information out of me? Very subtle, Stark.’_ Loki chuckled and after a moment, Tony felt warmth spread through the body he currently inhabited, and it was such a huge relief that he only barely managed to contain the satisfactory sigh coming up his throat. Finally able to think more clearly, he cast the mirror a cynical look and made a random swirl in the air with his hand.

“This isn’t gonna work if you don’t tell me what you’re planning anyway. You don’t really expect me to help you with any evil conspiracies of yours, right? Not that I’m not flattered and everything, but in case you didn’t notice: I’m not exactly on your side what with all the villainy-”

A sudden jab in his guts made him hiss with pain and he stumbled out of the bathroom to Loki’s vicious _‘I said get dressed and stop your annoying chatter! You’ll be informed on everything you need to know when the time comes.’_

“Alright, alright…! Don’t get your panties in a twist, princess”, Tony replied despite his good reason and walked over to the closet where he expected to find some clothes, even though he didn’t have a clue what he was supposed to wear, nor where they were going. “Um, what did you have in mind? Any particular dress code?”

_‘Actually, I think I will make this easier. You’re wasting enough of my time as it is.’_

Tony opened his mouth to give a snarky reply and quickly closed it again when he saw how clothes started to appear on Loki’s body. First a dark green dress shirt instead of the white one and a black vest over it, plain black pants, then a long, dark grey coat and a green scarf, and eventually perfectly polished shoes. Tony spotted another full-sized mirror at the opposite wall and gave his appearance a onceover. 

“So you _can_ live without leather”, Tony smirked. “I’m impressed, Reindeer Games.”

There was a moment of conspicuous silence at that, before a set of black gloves materialized around his hands. Black _leather_ gloves. Tony rolled his eyes pointedly. He could feel the internal laughter coming from the god of mischief and making his chest vibrate - and by that he meant actually _feel_. He was never going to look at stories about demonic possession the same way again. Ever.

“I hope you’re aware that this is bound to go awry, you crazy son-of-a-bitch.”

_‘Rest assured that it’s in your best interest right now to work with me. And as I’m not any keener on having you in me than you are, I intend to bring this to an end as quickly as possible.’_

“Kinky”, Tony couldn’t help himself, giving his reflection a parting smirk that wasn't altogether friendly. “You know, I’ve always thought that green is not really my color.”

_‘Shut up and move, Stark.’_

#~#~#

tbc

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for finding your way to this little work of mine and for reading the prologue and first chapter.  
> So. I'm losing my virginity on AO3 with this, I guess...you could say that, yeah. At the moment, this fic exists in three parts in my head, so I'm gonna go ahead and set it up as a series.  
> Comments and notes are much appreciated, always.
> 
> Thanks to my beta warumono!


	3. Field Research

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tony's arm tingles and he draws a rather unsettling parallel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I apologize for the long time without update. I'm kind of tied up with university-related work and don't have that much free time on my hands. Therefore, the story might be going on slowly. 
> 
> Thank you guys for reading and for your comments, though! And here's Chapter 2 (yet un-betaed).

It turned out they were attending some kind of book presentation, of all things. 

Alright, it appeared to be some major event for the high society from the looks of it – one of those events Tony was generally invited to but couldn’t care less about. Seriously, it was just a _book_. He could always read it later on if he was actually interested in it. No need to make an appearance at its boring and pointless debut ‘party’…so naturally, he never attended those events. 

Except today. While stuck in Loki’s body. Yeah, dangerous _and_ boring. Wasn’t he a lucky one. 

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to just waltz in there without any disguise?” he mumbled through his teeth while getting off a taxi and looking over to the guarded main entrance of the hall. 

“And how are we even gonna pass the guards without drawing attention? I guess you’re not exactly on the VIP list.” 

Loki sounded condescendingly amused when he answered. _‘You don’t have to worry about that. I have my ways. See the little café next to the building on the right?’_

Tony looked right and nodded. It seemed to practically belong to the event hall, but wasn’t directly adjacent to it – a large terrace and perfectly trimmed garden were dividing the two. 

_‘Go to its back, out of sight, and I will take care of the rest.’_

As soon as Tony had done so (not without casting slightly paranoid looks to all sides while passing people), he put his hands on his hips in an daring ‘what now’ gesture and studied the wall of the café’s back alley. 

Without any further warning from Loki, he felt himself…for the lack of a better word, _liquefy_. He wasn’t actually turning into a liquid form, no, but it felt sort of fluid, just for a couple of seconds, and Tony was distracted enough to only half-notice how the outlines of the alley dissipated and an elegantly designed, spacious restroom with five squeaky clean polished sinks formed around him. He found himself looking at his rather stupidly gaping reflection in the mirror that occupied the entire wall over the sinks. 

“Let me guess, we’re already in the event hall” he sighed sulkily. And no, that wasn’t a pout. Absolutely not. And if it was, it was only to see the evil god of mischief’s face looking like he just got robbed of his favorite candy. And now Tony’s mind was providing pictures of kid-Loki pouting at kid-Thor for stealing his toys. Damn his vivid imagination. 

Loki made a point of ignoring his remark. _‘Stick your hands into the coat pockets, Stark.’_

Frowning, Tony did so, and pulled out black-rimmed glasses in one hand and something long, narrow and black in the other. Wait a second – was that…? 

“Seriously? A _hairband_?” 

_‘You wanted to do some disguising. Go ahead’_ , Loki snorted. 

“Great.” 

However, Tony had to admit that minimalistic as the two devices were, they did a fairly good job on making the trickster look un-Loki-like. After having bound the long hair back into a ponytail and put on the glasses, Tony pulled a couple of hair strands over his forehead for good measure and assessed the outcome. With the accessories Loki had provided, including the grey coat and the scarf loosely draped around his shoulders, he looked nothing short of a librarian or a book critic, and – more importantly – absolutely not like a rogue Asgardian god. Huh. Well played. 

“So what do we do?” 

_‘Today, just a little bit of location scouting. I want you to tell me what you need to manipulate the security system of this building and infiltrate the main server, unnoticed.’_

Tony resisted the urge to frown while he walked out of the restroom into the red-carpeted foyer. The event was already in full swing and there were enough guests for him to pass the wide rooms generally unnoticed, even if he walked right through the middle. He spotted a few faintly familiar faces among the people. Investors, CEOs and reporters, and a quite famous promoter high in demand for galas of all sorts who went by the name of Emily Rider. Huh…so that would be the event’s organizer, if Tony wasn’t mistaken. He was pretty sure Pepper had mentioned something about it the other week…could’ve been in one of those instants he usually tended to ignore in favor of working on something in his lab, he figured. 

“What do you need to hack their server for?” he asked conversationally and had to suppress a shiver when he walked by a mirror and caught Loki’s eyes in it. He would never get used to that. 

_‘I suggest you refrain from talking out loud, Stark. Even though most humans are doubtlessly blind to their surroundings, you could be spotted as displaying suspicious behavior.’_

Tony rolled his eyes at the stuck-up tone. So he was supposed to, what, telepathically speak to his new compulsory roommate? How did that even work? 

_~What if I want to be spotted in order to turn you in while I’m running the show in here?~_ , he tried to think toward Loki. 

_‘You keep forgetting who holds the real reigns in this little arrangement of ours. You won’t come as far as opening your mouth to scream for help if I don’t want you to. Believe me.’_

_~Says the notorious liar~_ , Tony snorted. So the communication wasn’t a problem. _~Then why letting me walk this out at all? Why not just making me look from out of your eyes while you do the inconspicuous blending in thing?~_

_‘So I can spare myself the annoying ordeal of dealing with your so-called ‘high society’. You are better accustomed with this kind of event, I believe.’_

Tony shook his head with an amused frown. _~Wow, I don’t know if you could be more wrong. I’ve got quite the scandalous record with parties and social events...~_

Apparently Loki opted to ignore further chatter, so Tony started to think about a course of action. It was clear that he wouldn’t do everything Loki wanted him to, but he needed to play along to his game well enough for devising a counter plan. Even if this was definitely the weirdest thing that had happened to him in a long time, it also held the undeniable opportunity to turn the god in when he was least expecting it. Loki might have the power over who was in control of his body, but if he managed to set up a trap without the other noticing, the Avengers would have the element of surprise _and_ Tony himself inside Loki’s body to sabotage him a little. There just had to be a way in which he could affect Loki from where he was now, right? Right. Because Tony Stark wouldn’t be Tony Stark if he couldn’t _make_ a way, even where there wasn’t one yet. 

So play nice it was. He could do that. 

Tony swiftly took a glass of champagne off the platter one of the waiters was carrying past him and flashed him a winning smile, noting the young man’s slight blush at that with odd fascination. Well, Loki’s appearance certainly didn’t lose to his own charms now that Tony thought about it. You know, whenever he wasn’t currently maiming and murdering people. 

_~Hey Copperfield, mind weaving your wand and conjuring up some kind of briefcase for me?~_

_‘I hope this has something to do with the way you intend to do this’_ , Loki commented, but sure enough, a black leather briefcase appeared in one of Tony’s hands in the next instant. He hung it over his shoulder and murmured: “Sure does.” 

The engineer cast a quick glance around and moved slightly to the left, spotting the perfect opportunity for his plan – the elegantly dressed woman walking in his direction was still looking off to the side where she had left the security guard after talking to him and consequently bumped into Tony. He took advantage of the moment and inclined the glass so that a good amount of the drink spilled onto his collar. 

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” Miss Rider made an apologetic noise and put her hand to her mouth in obvious embarrassment. 

Tony put his hands up and smiled awkwardly. “It’s alright, don’t worry ma’am. It was my fault, I didn’t see you coming”, he lied easily. “Really, there’s no need to apologize…” 

“That dress shirt must have been expensive!” she continued, ignoring his words. Figures, he thought, everyone at this kind of events is assumed to wear the best of the best. 

“Yes, but-” 

“I feel terrible for letting this happen at the event I organized! If you allow me, I’ll have you compensated for the little mishap”, Rider insisted. 

_‘Stark, what are you doing? We’re not here to engage in small-talk!’_

Tony grinned inwardly at Loki’s display of impatience. He had been wondering how long it’d take. 

“Oh, that won’t be necessary, ma’am!” He put on the most charming expression he could manage, seeing how this was not his face. “If you’d just have…somewhere where I could change other than the public restroom? I’ve learned from previous galas to carry a spare shirt with me at all times.” He gestured to his briefcase as evidence of that claim. 

Miss Rider hesitated briefly, which Tony interpreted as her fighting with her sense of precaution, but eventually, the guilt (and probably his harmless appearance, which was almost too much irony for him to handle) won over everything else and she took him by the arm with a nod. 

“Of course, it’s the least I can do”, she said, leading him back to the security guard she had just come from. 

“George, be so kind and show Mr. …” 

Tony quickly scanned his mind for an innocuous name and offered: “Turner.” 

“…show Mr. Turner to the dressing rooms on the second floor. This is a personal favor, so no need for formalities”, she added, waving potential concerns off. 

Tony could only marvel at the carelessness the promoter displayed in giving random strangers such easy ways to infiltrate the building, as he followed George to one of the elevators in the back of the hall. Then again, maybe he was a little bit paranoid about these things. 

“I need to stay on my post”, George commented gruffly (Seriously, why did all security personnel have to speak like that? Was it part of the job description?), “and will wait for you down here.” The elevator chimed once and the doors slid open. Tony stepped inside while the security guard pressed the second floor button for him. “Turn right when you arrive and follow the corridor until the third door on the left, Mr. Turner.” 

Tony nodded with a quick smile and relaxed against the wall when the doors closed and shut out the party noises, leaving him to face – oh, look at that! – three reflections of himself as Loki the librarian. _Joy._

_‘That was surprisingly efficient’_ , Loki noted in his head. 

Tony looked at the god’s reflection on his right and winked. “Efficiency is my middle name!” 

He was almost tempted to raise an eyebrow along with Loki’s next comment, just for the hell of it. 

_‘Yes. I suppose there was a reason I picked you as an assistant, after all.’_

The elevator came to a halt and opened towards a dimly lit corridor. 

_‘You still need to get to the important part, though.’_

“Yeah, yeah”, Tony drawled out, and already felt his attention focus on what the building floor plan could possibly look like corresponding to the exterior architecture. The latter didn’t tell him much, unfortunately. He sighed and turned right, quietly walking toward what looked like an area unused by the public to him. 

“We’ll need to get an exact floor plan”, he mumbled, adding as an afterthought: “If I had my suit, and you know – my _body_ , I could scan this thing from basement to roof and be done with it.” 

_‘Oh, yes, undoubtedly.’_ Loki didn’t sound in the least surprised by his (admittedly obvious) attempt at setting up a trap. _‘And would that be before or after you call on your friends and try to kill me?’_

“I’m kinda offended that you have so little trust in my word”, Tony grinned. 

_‘That’s strange. I don’t recall you giving me your word’_ , Loki retorted and Tony briefly stopped in his tracks. 

“Oh? Well, how about this – I give you my word that I’ll help you if you get me back to my body”, he quipped easily. 

The trickster made an over-acted contemplative sound, before snorting a derisive _‘Do you honestly take me for an idiot?’_

“Hmm, I have to admit you struck me as sharper than Thor from the beginning. Can’t blame me for trying, though”, Tony shrugged, turning into a shorter corridor at the end of which an ominously labeled door said _Staff only_. “Naturally, it’s locked”, he determined by trying the doorknob. 

_‘Keep your hand steady over it for a moment’_ , Loki commended and a second later a tingling sensation made its way down Tony’s arm, eventually producing a bluish shine at his palm and fingertips. There was a barely audible click that indicated the door had been unlocked. Tony needed a moment to overcome his temporary fascination with having done _magic_ (even if it hadn’t actually been him) and to stop staring before he could turn the doorknob and confirm that personally. 

Loki’s chuckle began grating on his nerves. _‘I do have a few resources of my own. Would your way of solving this have been better?’_

“Absolutely”, the engineer retorted in a huff, thinking that he would’ve tried to pick the lock and probably ended up blasting it away for a lack of patience. But Loki didn’t have to know that. 

He entered the room, which appeared to be used as storage stuffed with document boxes on multiple shelves, and spotted someone working on a computer at the far end of it. The man turned around at the sound of the door opening and stared at him in confusion that slowly transformed into wariness. 

“What are doing here?” He reached for what Tony guessed was a security call button beneath his desk at the same time as Loki hissed _‘Your hand, Stark!’_ and Tony’s right arm jerked up almost automatically, even though he had less than a clue what he was supposed to do. 

It wasn’t much in the end, since his reflexes and Loki’s magic took care of the rest. Tony just stood there and pointed his palm at the staff member, feeling an odd sense of familiarity when an invisible surge burst from it – much like the blasts he was used to from his suit’s repulsors. The energy wave hit the man before he could as much as move an inch further and sent him toppling over to the floor, knocked out (or so Tony hoped). 

_‘Well? Are you going to waste more time?’_

Tony shook himself out of his stupor, moved for the computer and checked the network in hopes of getting an idea of the intranet structure of the place. He couldn’t access the main sever from this computer, but at least he had found out there were an entirety of twenty minor severs connected to it. Which still left him at a loss as to where it was located in the building. He managed to take a good look at the firewalls and security system, though. 

He frowned at the displayed name of the main server. “Scutum…” Who in the world would name a data server something as ridiculous and uncool as ‘scutum’? 

Loki’s strangely edgy voice poked through his thoughts. _‘So it truly exists.’_

“What does?” he asked, confused. 

But naturally the trickster, being who he was, didn’t deem it important to answer him. Instead, Loki seemed to have made up his mind to leave. 

_‘Our work here is done, for now. I trust you know what you’ll need for the infiltration by now?’_

“Yes”, Tony’s pride said without asking, and he cringed at the blown chance to interrogate Loki a bit further on the subject. Well, he would have to make a better disguised attempt later, anyway. 

“So what, are we gonna sneak back out now and hope we don’t run into George on our way out?” 

Tony straightened himself and had already reached the door when Loki answered smugly: _‘I suppose that would be_ you _, since I have a few important matters to think over and intend to tune your annoying chatter out until we’re back at the spot we arrived at through my portal.’_

And that was indeed the last Tony heard of Loki for the rest of the way, even though he made a point of trying to annoy him into snapping (because he was he had always been reckless like that) most of the time. 

The rest of the time he spent with absolutely _not_ thinking about the electrifying feeling of magic under his skin. 


End file.
